Winter
by A Smile and a Half
Summary: Sasuhina. Ch 2: The boy of seconds ago is like a beautiful gasoline rainbow. I hadn't intended it, but it was meant to be. Hints of Nejihina and Naruhina.
1. With Open Eyes

With Open Eyes-- Naruto fanfic, slight Sasuhina

Note: Hinata means "sunshine" or "into the sun", for those who don't already know. :) And, don't take this chappie literally, it's just a metaphor, really. It can get kinda confusing, though.

Sasuke Drabble

...

This sucks. This really sucks.

I'm here in this darkness, this empty winter and that just makes me think of all I've left behind, all I've said and all I've done.

Which makes me feel like an ass.

_Even with the sharingan,_ I realize, _I've been completely blind._

I'd been blindfolded, I'd been walking backwards, I'd been with tightly closed eyes. This whole time...

And then I see it, I practically feel it, even with my sightless eyes. A little ray of dancing light. It's peeking through a tiny crack, because Naruto had tried to free me once. Winter... So cold, so dark. People might think I like this place, that I wanted to go here.

It's hell.

Which makes me think back to when I was young, and Aniki used to play with me. Father was alive, and Mother woke me everyday with a smile. It's like a slideshow in my mind, almost painful to watch. But slowly, those images burn, and I can no longer see Itachi and my parents.

Because he killed them.

And I Mmove onto happier thoughts, and I picture the team seven photo in my mind, and the image is fresh from longing. Kakashi, Sakura, that dope Naruto...

They're calling my name.Sakura looks like she's gonna cry, and Naruto is rubbing the back of his head, grinning. Kakashi smiles an invisible smile.I try to reach out, but I'm too numb. I'm frozen.

_I'm sorry._

Those words escpae my lips and I sneer at myself, somehow. I was always to proud to say it. But I know it's the right thing to do.

I'm sorry for leaving and hurting Sakura. Maybe the whole village, if they cared. My stomach feels weird, it sickens me. Guilt?

Wherever she is, I want her to know, in any way possible, that I regret putting her down so much. I'm even... sorry.But she's thick headed. stubborn, and couldn't take a hint. I know that soon, she'll learn. Also, that's just how I am. An arrogant bastard. A jackass. I admit it.

Naruto. That dope. It may not seem like it, but he's my best friend. One of the best things that have ever happened to me. He beat sense into me and probably into everyone else who needed it. Like Neji. Or Gaara. Man, we should start a club. It's hard to admit it, but I look up to him. He's gonna be a great Hokage some day. I'm sorry for making it so hard for him.

I crack one eye open.

The little ray of sunshine is beckoning to me now.It's a little shy, but it's persistent. It wants to help.It's still cold, and I'm still freezing my sorry ass off, butit feels at leaset five degrees warmer. I can feel my toes again, then my arms, my fingers.

The other eye opens, and it's all clear to me now.

_Hina...ta..._

With open eyes, I race towards the light.

...

Whew! I'm done!

Please review, I'm that getting that many, to be honest.

But I'll keep tyring!


	2. Fingertips

Fingertips--NejihinaNaru, and a surprise

Hinata Drabble

...

I love the cold.

The cold nips fiercely at my nose and soon I can't feel anything.

I'm frozen here, frozen in time, the only thing I can see and feel is a memory. I close my eyes blissfully.

_Neji-nii! I know where you're hiding! Come out!_

_Ready or not, here I come!_

The voices pull me back to a time where anything meant everything and nothing meant something. Neji and I used to play here. The words, the laughter still echoes in my head. Our favourite game was hide-and-go-seek, and it was just us two. I still remember the anticipation when I thought l'd found him and the disappointment whn he found me.

Neji loved the cold, too.

But soon he changed. He hardly spoke, hardly laughed, never smiled. He stopped playing, associating with me altogether. I still love the cold, but he seemed to have outgrown it, like Simon Says and Follow-the-Leader. He was trying to forget.

Neji _became_ the cold.

I close my eyes and try to remember the old days the bast I can, because they seem so far away and unreachable. Neji was so warm, so caring, but all that fell apart like a loosely packed snowball. He's as cold as ice, and his words sting like clusters of snowflakes on bare skin.

I love the cold, and maybe that's why I still love Neji.

Then there's Naruto.

He lights up my days, like a rainbow after a thunderstorm. He brings the sun and all its warmth with him when he looks at me. With him, I forget about the bitter cold, Neji, and my short yet sweet friendship with him. I love the cold, but I love Naruto so much more.

I love the cold, I love the warmth. I can't decide.

It starts to snow, and I hold my mittenless hands out, letting the falling flakes kiss them as they melt. My hands slowly swell up and turn an interesting shade of reddish-pink. I gaze at them without seeing them.

I'm startled as someone takes my hands and blows on them.The warm breath tickles, and I can't help but laugh. I hear a chuckle, and I realize I'm as red as my fingertips.

I can practically feel his smirk --I'm sure it's a he-- as he lets go of my hands.

It's snowing too hard. I can't see his face. But I catch a glimpse of spiked black hair and a darkly-coloured T-shirt.

Momentairily I forget about Naruto, Neji and the one-sided game of hide and seek I seem to be playing nowadays. I start a guessing game with myself. It's still hazy, but I'm pretty sure I know who it is.

I smile to myself. Maybe _he_ can be that In Between, not summer nor winter. Neji and Naruto, I realize, are my might-have-been's, my almosts, my unfinished. The boy of a few seconds ago is like a beautiful gasoline rainbow, I hadn't intended it, but it was meant to be. I have found my springtime.

I love the cold.

...

_I worked hard on this, and I hope it's as poetic and nice as it seems to me. Thanks for reading, please review._


End file.
